Children's Time: Great 'G' Words: Giving and being Generous (Feb 16, 2014)

Children’s Time: Giving and Being Generous

Good morning, friends.

Today, I would like to talk with you about some good, great ‘G’ words.

I think that words that start with ‘G’ are Generally Good!

What ‘G’ words can you think of, that are Good?

(Gold, good, give, get, gentle…

One of the first ‘G’ words that my 3 year old younger son learned from his daycare was ‘Be Gentle.’

What else?

Green…?

Let’s continue to talk after watching a ‘G’ood video clip about other Good ‘G’ words.

Let’s talk about the story in the video clip.

The little boy happened to find money stuck to the tire, and wanted to use it to buy things for himself.

Then, what did he see?

An older boy was playing with a football and kicked it, and unfortunately, it fell on the cart of an old lady and broke the glasses she uses to sell drinks.      

The old lady was upset at first, wasn’t she? Did you think she would yell at the boy who broke her drinking glasses?

What did she do?

The old lady forGave him. So here is another good ‘G’ word – forGive.

When the little boy saw the old woman forGive the older boy so Generously, what did he choose to do?

He changed his mind from buying things for himself with the money – ice cream, sandals …He changed his mind and chose to buy drinking glasses for the old lady.

What do you think made him change his mind?

The old lady was so Generous,  - that’s a good G word, ‘generous’ – to the other boy who broke the drinking glasses. She forgave him, smiled at him, and let him go and play again. Her generosity touched the little boy. Her generosity inspired him to be generous, too.

The great ‘G’ words that we can find in this video are forGive, Give, and be Generous.

All of these three words have God’s special G in them.

So, today’s message for us is “Let us be children of God (who also starts with a G) who forGive, Give, and be Generous.”

The Great Gift that we can give to each other is to Give the best of ourselves to one another.

Giving is a great way to communicate; Giving is a great way to talk to each other, heart to heart. 

Generous Giving can change us from the inside out.

Another G word we missed – GRATITUDE.

Great! Go gladly in the grace of God!

Prayers - Feb 16, 2014 (Announcements)

Welcome

Welcome, everyone, to the Sunday service of Chemainus United Church.

We are a welcoming, intergenerational Christian community that seeks spiritual growth as we connect with the Holy and with people in friendship and faith in Christ.

Our core values that are based on our mission statement are being welcoming, growing spiritually, and planting a seed for change in the world and in our lives. 

If it is your first Sunday service at Chemainus United Church, would you introduce yourself to the rest of us so that we can welcome you with great joy.

We would like to invite everyone to coffee time after the service. It is a wonderful way to enjoy friendship in the love of Christ.

Announcement

We’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up in the life of the church, so this morning, the announcements are going to be LONG.

MEMBERSHIP CLASS

I am very happy to announce an emerging circle being initiated and growing among us.

MEMBERSHIP CLASS – There are no tests or exams, and our classroom will be as comfortable as we can make it.

A team of people will create a ‘circle of sharing’ for those who consider becoming a member of Chemainus United Church.

The Membership Class will be offered on March 9. This two-hour long session will complete all the requirements for those who want to become a member of our church. Those who are not yet ready for membership, but want to know more about our church, are also welcome into this circle of sharing.

We know that we have different perspectives on church membership; my understanding is that becoming a member can be our faithful choice to make our ‘belonging’ ‘official.’ We intend to make more occasions for welcoming members in a meaningful way.

In the welcoming ceremony, you will be assured that you are already members of the church of Jesus Christ – the catholic church with small ‘c’ – you belong to the church and the church belongs to you.

When you become members, you will be empowered to exercise your membership in the larger United Church and within the context of the Chemainus UC congregation. We know that membership doesn’t simply mean special privileges - it puts in your hands the joy and responsibility of being part of the circle of faith.

BAPTISM

We also welcome your interest in baptism.

If you are not baptized yet, please tell me if are interested in knowing more. I can assure you that covenanting in baptism can be the most beautiful experience that one can have in their faith journey. Baptism is a blessed witness about how the Spirit of God changes the individual and the community and fosters in us a new life. Baptism has a sacramental power, as it is covenanting us to the love of Christ. Baptism is an act of welcoming, blessing and belonging.

This initiative to create a culture of encouraging membership and baptism within Chemainus United Church is an important step for our faith community as it moves into the future. 

Stewardship, membership and baptism – these three are those adaptive changes we can make and have a sense of urgency as we desire to grow and even thrive as a welcoming community that honours and ‘owns’ varied gifts that people bring with them into our community. 

The task for us as we move into the future is to honour and celebrate the diversity among us, and to challenge ourselves to be a community of equals.

Opening Prayer

Holy God,

We have gathered together

To celebrate your presence among us,

To sing the beauty of diversity

You create

In all aspects of our lives,

As you call us to be a community

Of gifted individuals.

Let us become one in many,

Many in one,

And worship you with joy!

Prayer of Confession

(Intro)

Confession is reflection.

To confess is to name things that need to be changed in our lives.

Confession is not listing every bad thing we have done in order to avoid God’s judgment;

God is more concerned about patterns in our lives that need to be changed, rather than one-off, single mistakes.

So I encourage us to reflect on the patterns of our life as we pray, reflecting on the patterns of our lives that are not working for us, as well as reflecting positively on those that help our health and wholeness.

(Silence for reflection)

Assurance of God’s Grace

This is the reflection of Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

“God is saying to you, ‘Child of God, I have a dream. Please help me to realize it.’

It is a dream of a world whose ugliness and squalor and poverty, its war and hostility, its greed and harsh competitiveness, its alienation and disharmony are changed into their glorious counterparts where laughter, love and peace reign.”

God has a dream for you and for us. In every moment, you are loved, so you are forgiven, free in the name of God who created you, who dwells within you and who goes with you always. Amen.

(Please respond saying “Thanks Be to God” after the minister says, Amen.”)

Offering Prayer

We offer these gifts because God has a dream. God is saying to us, “Child of God, I have a dream. Please help me to realize it.”

God, help us to be a place of transformation,

An instrument of positive changes in our lives and in the lives of others

As we present our gifts, time and money for the service of others. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Gracious God, your abundance surrounds us as it sustains us. We thank you for gifts of friendship and new beginnings, for new opportunities and growth. God of Grace, we pray for our community of faith. You are with us in the present and for the future. As we move into our future, give us confidence and knowledge, optimism and openness to new lessons of what adaptive changes we can make. We pray for the upcoming AGM. May we open to a new way of meeting with prayer and song, reflection and expressing thanks for the people who gave their time, gifts and energy to your service last year and those who will come after them in this new year. We also pray for our upcoming membership class. Bless our friends who are considering becoming a member in the near future and those who prepare for baptism. Let us truly receive all your gifts with gratitude and share them with the people around us.

Spirit of Hope, in our lives and in our world, there are many troubles and concerns. Some face uncertainty and pain and illness. Some wrestle with anxiety and fear about work, about relationships and about themselves. We pray that your healing love may touch these lives …..(continued healing for N). (God of hope, we know you hear our prayers.)

Spirit of Compassion, be with us as we experience losses in our lives. Where there are disappointments, lead us with joy. Where there is grief, fill us with your peace. Where there is death, help us to say goodbye for now, but not forever. We pray for Gordon and Alma Hughes. (Breath of Compassion, we know you hear our prayers.)

Breath of the Universe, you have created us for joy. Open our minds to your spirit. Increase our trust and guide our hearts in the ways of your truth.

God, you transform us by grace, and renew us in peace.

Benediction

You are not here by chance. You are not here on this planet just by chance. There is a reason.  God has called you here and gifted you for a reason. Who will fulfill that calling unless you do it? Discovering your specific calling will be the biggest challenge in your life, fulfilling and bringing the most joy you have ever received.

As you go from this place, go knowing that God’s blessings go before you, that God’s face will shine upon you and be gracious upon you, and that God will grant you peace.

Sermon Series: Leading Adaptive Changes (1) - Stewardship (Feb 9, 2014)

Sermon series: Leading Adaptive Changes (1)  - Stewardship

Good morning.

We opened this part of the service by watching a video, Street Compliments,  filmed by a group called Soul Pancake. (The name of the group reminded me of the pancakes Min Goo often makes my family for Saturday breakfast) Did you feel moved when you watched this video clip? I did. I was moved and my eyes even welled up with tears. It triggers a deep longing in our hearts.

What people in the video clip said to each other, one person in the booth and the other person on the big speaker phone, were not empty, mindless, flattering compliments. It was a “gifting of grace” to one another, recognizing that each one is a true gift – precious and irreplaceable.

We call ourselves by many names. We are children of God. We are disciples of Jesus. We are followers of Jesus. We are the fruits of the Spirit. And we also see our role as stewards.

Think of the first gift you ever received as soon as you were formed in your mother’s womb. What do you think it was?

For me it is Mother Earth,  the physical ground of our beings and of all known living things. It nurtures all the lives on it equally, without discrimination.

The Earth is indeed an amazing planet. It  orbits in the Goldilocks zone – neither too close to the Sun nor too far from it. There are hundreds of billions of stars out there in the universe, and scientists have identified thousands of exoplanets so far, planets outside of our solar system that travel around their own sun. We have not yet found planets that are quite like our own Earth - wet, temperate and friendly to life. Earth and its abundant life exist within the realm of “mathematical improbability.” That means the fact that we, all of us, are here is like a miracle, with the statistical odds of our existence being vanishingly small. We, all of us, are miracles. We are gifted. This is the only place, the only suitable home for us through the whole universe. (Pointing to the power point picture of the Earth) We opened our eyes and saw one another, on this sumptuous planet, sparkling with colour, bountiful with diversity of life. It is the greatest gift we’ve ever been given.

Our role as stewards is to create an atmosphere where we recognize each one as a tremendous, rare, unprecedented gift. We grow spiritually together as a community when we create a culture of celebrating and respecting each other’s true gift – the one-of-a-kind, not-to-be-repeated puzzle piece that each of us contributes to the kingdom of God. No two are the same - every gift is precious and irreplaceable.

How do we learn to recognize and celebrate all of our diverse gifts?

“Gifting grace” is is different from giving compliments to each other; we know that giving compliments is sometimes used as a ‘gratitude tactic’ with which we direct and control the behaviour of others. For example, we compliment a student’s behaviour in order to elicit that praised behaviour more often. We do this with good intention, but it is different from gifting grace. 
“Gifting grace” isn’t used to get something in return.

 

“Gifting grace” is a way to create a community that is open to surprises, willing to be surprised by the joy that others bring. We see the best of each other and have the will to give our best to others. Gifting of grace leads us to be inspired by the generosity of others and we also become generous likewise.

One of the most important steps we need to take for the future of our church and also for our spiritual growth is to learn about stewardship – what stewardship is and why we do it. Stewardship is not a programme to increase the revenue of the church. Stewardship is different from fundraising, although fundraising events are a wonderful experience and opportunity that brings and unites people in a common project. I see the positive role the fundraising does in the work of our church. Working together for a common goal is a powerful experience. Our Chemainus church relies on regular fundraising in order to raise the money needed to help the church thrive. However, our vision now really should be focused on learning about developing congregational stewardship, because we need to focus on people’s talents and gifts and spontaneous volunteerism, rather than telling people what needs to be done. Stewardship is, and must be, a spiritual practice.

As stewards, we save and heal and bless so many people’s lives. We make a difference by recognizing and using our gifts – our talents, our time, our money. We support the Mission and Service Fund and, by giving, we support a lot of great things that make a difference in the world. We help many children in the world grow in a safe place and get an education that helps them change their society, and the world. We care for the people who are now and will, in the future, be most vulnerable to the harsh realities of climate change. We support the work of reconciliation and healing of the aboriginal communities in Canada and in the world. By offering our gifts, we respond to the challenges of the world such as poverty, exclusion and marginalization. 

My dream is that, by what we give, and what we do, we can build a culture of respect, celebrate diversity and make our society be fully inclusive. For we vision, we dream, we love, we engage in stewardship. We engage in stewardship because we so much care for our world as our own home.

As stewards, we ‘gift grace’ for others – for people we may not know and for people we may know. We make a difference in our church home as well, so that whoever comes to us can find a spiritual home here.

The Church still ‘saves’ people’s lives. It is why we are here. We are here to create a place for transformation, to inspire and to be inspired. My vision for us is that we become a courageous and engaging people as we accompany each other’s spiritual and transformative journey.

I encourage you to create more opportunities for conversation. We need to witness more, and we need to hear more often about how our church, our faith community has changed our lives, saved our lives, healed our lives, and nurtured our lives. We need to hear more often and from more people how our church has lifted us up - you can include me in that.  As I shared last Sunday, when you chose to accept me as your minister and intern, you planted a seed of change for my life and for the future. You have gifted me with grace.

Does church still change people’s lives, save people’s lives and make a difference in people’s lives? My answer is YES, and more than that. The positive changes when they are made make ripples that spread outward until they reach an unseeable edge. Think about  the Butterfly Effect. The flapping of a butterfly’s wings on this side of the world can stir up tiny currents that end up as a great wind in far-away places.

 

The start of creating a community of good-will and generosity is to see the best in each other. Say how much we are blessed by the gifts of one another. Be ready to be surprised by the joy that others bring. The power of a sense of blessedness and gratitude is greater than we can understand.

In today’s sacred reading, Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world.

As salt and light, we make a difference. We create a place for transformation with God’s gift of grace. In this community and beyond this community, we save, bless and heal lives. Let us choose to dwell on the positives – what is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, pleasing, and commendable, and deal with challenges wisely. Let us be confident, believing that we are invited to grow as a community of grace, by celebrating the diversity of gifts in people. Let us be open to surprises, growing into a spirit of generosity whenever we give or receive, inspired by God’s abundant love for us all. Amen.

Children's Time: The Light of the Earth (Feb 9, 2014)

Children’s Time: The Light of the Earth

Good morning, my friends.

Have you ever wondered about the universe – about the stars, the earth, the moon, the galaxies, the planets in our solar system and outside of it?

Me too!

I have done that so many times. When I was a child, on some nights, I would stay awake for a really long time thinking about the mysteries that surround us in the night sky, especially the idea about how the whole universe began, everything exploding out of nothing all at once. (the Big Bang theory)

When you look up at the stars, what do you see?

It may sound like a silly question - of course you see stars.

What else do you see when you look out the stars at night?

(Children may answer, the moon, starlight, clouds, etc.)

And we also see the blackness between the stars…..

The darkness.

But - just because it’s dark doesn’t mean that it’s empty, or that there’s nothing great or special there.

It just means that we don’t know what it is yet - scientists are discovering that the black space makes up most of the universe - 95 percent of it.

And it is a field with energy. It pushes the universe apart. It speeds the universe up; it’s changing the shape of the universe even now. The universe is expanding.

In all of this pitch-black dark, dark space, there is one place we call home. One place to breathe the fresh air, to enjoy the green leaves, to drink fresh water, one place to live in the light.

It is the earth; it is our home.

And it has the light; the light is visible even from space. 

We can see the beautiful, blue light of the earth from the moon, from the space stations, even from another planet. 

This picture of the earth was taken from the surface of the moon. 

It is beautiful, isn’t it? The earth is beautiful.

And you know what? This beautiful light of the earth is also in you!

This beautiful, blue light, this amazing blue light, the light where all living beings find their home is exactly in you. 

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” 

Nobody knew what the world really looked like, shining against all that darkness, until people were able to go to the moon and take a picture, and everyone could see

this beautiful light, this amazing light, the light where all living beings find their home.

N will help us to hear what Jesus says in today’s Bible story. Jesus says,

(A grown-up comes forward to the children, and reads this from the Bible.)

“You are the light of the world: A light cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bed or under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.”

Be the light of the world.